Lumia 535 Unboxing, First Impressions

You need to get your eyes checked if you think the Lumia 535 is plainly forgettable. Instead, it feels like a controlled project – from the “soft” hard shell and the typography-driven interface, to the concentric circle camera UI the Lenovo Vibe Z Pro 2 now mimics.

There is no needless detail in the box or out of it. Minimalism shouldn’t mean cheap. The Lumia line nails that.

There is unmistakeable Microsoft branding here. You need to get over your Nokia longings: the Gates-founded company from Redmond is distinctively present. Quietly assertive even. The charger itself is black and chic – you won’t mistake it for the squarish or long chargers that come bundled with many an Android.

The back cover, easily removable, is soft and hard at the same time. Soft to the touch, pleasing to caress, like a solid talcum surface. But hard enough to keep the Lumia 535 sturdy, safe to clutch and drop in your bag, and good enough for impact protection from drops.

Sample outdoor cloudy shot, taken immediately after unboxing – I couldn’t help myself. The colors are close to natural, not over-saturated. Color fidelity is pretty good.

A smallish and curves-in-your-hand 5″ inch feels just right. Android flagships keep getting bigger, but our hands stay the same size. Why is that? By contrast, every tile and icon on the Lumia 535 is within comfortable thumb-reach.

At launch, the Lumia 535 was Microsoft’s most affordable Windows 8.1 phone. Meanwhile, check out our full review of the Lumia 535 here.

Author

Irwin Allen Rivera

Irwin Allen Rivera loves his wife's cooking so much he's now twice the man he used to be. His English essay won a Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Award for Literature in 2012. His philosophical-horror story appeared in Philippine Speculative Fiction 8 (2013). He was managing editor and lead writer of Sites and Symbols 2 (2005), a coffee-table book about buildings in UP Diliman - his alma mater (BA Philosophy; MA Creative Writing continuing). He worked at the UP Diliman Information Office before shifting to web content writing. His sudden fiction, "Notwithstanding Pigs," initially a Friendster testimonial, appeared in Philippines Graphic (2006) and in Very Short Stories for Harried Readers (2007). He used to write for www.technoodling.net.